1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns the field of shades and drapery and more particularly to a device for simplifying the application of illumination to valances.
2. Description of Related Art
The idea of adding a source of illumination to shades and drapery is probably as old as electric illumination which possible the addition of light without the danger of fire. The valance surrounding and concealing a drapery rod and mechanism seemed the ideal vehicle for also hiding electric lights. The early attempts to illuminate drapery tended to treat the drapery as just another light fixture. That is, the valence was used to hide relatively large electric lamps which were intended to illuminate both the drapery and pictures or the immediate portion of the room. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,528,132 to Gibson et al. and 2,564,865 to Turner et. al. Also typical of this approach is U.S. Pat. No. 2,569,518 to Deutsch et al. which discloses a valance-like enclosure for fluorescent tubes and U.S. Pat. No. 2,662,163 to Mollner which discloses a combination curtain rod and tubular fluorescent lamp fixture. In the same vein is U.S. Pat. No. 2,708,711 to McGinty et al. which discloses fluorescent tubes and incandescent flood lamps concealed behind a drapery valance.
More recently interior designers have become aware of the usefulness of "accent lighting" in which a plurality of relatively dim electric lights create a pattern of interesting shadows or appear like twinkling stars. Accent lighting is not intended to produce significant room illumination for reading, etc. although it may serve as a safety role as well as a decorative role by making structures visible to prevent collisions in a darkened room, etc. The present inventor has been involved in providing ornamental designs for such accent lighting. For example, see U.S. Pat. D-365,955 which shows a possible ornamental effect of lighting on a valance.
One currently popular method of creating such accent lighting is to employ a plurality of tiny, low-voltage incandescent lamps, often in some type of flexible transparent tube. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,755,663 to George, Jr. and 4,812,956 to Chen which disclose, respectively, a flexible transparent tube containing a double parallel string of lamps, and a flexible tube with lamp strings enclosed in an exterior groove. Another flexible tube device, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,470 to George, Jr., incorporates a transparent gel to surround and cushion the tiny lamps.
Closely related lighting devices are flexible tapes taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,412 to Mori which discloses a flexible tape device containing a plurality of illumination elements and U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,720 to Solow which includes LEDs (light emitting diodes) in a tape; these tapes may be applied to a wide range of objects by merely peeling off a protective backing. Significant drawbacks to this type of installation are that the adhesive generally fails in time (resulting in drooping or total detachment of the illuminated tape) and that the tapes are almost impossible to remove cleanly for repositioning or replacement of failed lamps.
Flexible tube devices 10 may be readily attached to surfaces with U-shaped clamps 12 as shown in FIG. 1. The U-shaped clamps 12 are available with peel and stick adhesive or may be attached with screws or nails (not shown). Although these clamps 12 and similar devices allow ready installation in a wide variety of locations, they generally suffer from adhesive failure with time, and an inability to readily reposition the clamps 12. Further applying screws or nails to the relatively tiny clamps 12 may be extremely tedious.
Despite the apparent ease of using various flexible light tubes or tapes to apply accent lighting, a number of more specialized fixtures have recently been developed. Most probably there is a desire to make the installation more permanent and less messy since tapes can readily become detached and flexible tubes may sag and appear somewhat sloppy. Although low voltage lamps last a very long time, they eventually fail and must be replaced, and may of the tube and tape designs make this replacement very difficult or impossible. U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,221 to Agabekov shows a rigid elongated fixture to accommodate elongated tubular incandescent lamps. This fixture is fairly complex but allows ready replacement of single lamps when they fail. U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,859 to Lettenmayer discloses another elongate fixture for use with similar, low voltage tubular incandescent lamps. While U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,279 to Wood discloses a fixture in which individual screw-based lamps can be readily replaced. While these and similar fixtures may provide a way for applying neat and replaceable accent lighting to draperies, they are expensive and not readily adaptable to a wide range of decors.